


I'm Feeling Good

by StereotypicalScorpio



Category: Dying Light (Video Game)
Genre: .3., Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dying Light - Freeform, I Don't Even Know, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-06 18:05:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15891243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StereotypicalScorpio/pseuds/StereotypicalScorpio
Summary: Kyle Crane just defeated Rais, now he is stuck at the top of the damn tower waiting for dawn to appear. He needs to head back to the tower, there is someone waiting for him that will change his life forever.





	1. Oh this old world is a new world

**Author's Note:**

> Wow this is my worst summary to date! Anyways, I'm sorry if there is any grammar errors, English is not my first language. I am currently obsessed with this game and frankly I hated the countryside (The Following) endings so here I am planning on fixing them!

Kyle Crane sat on top of Rais’s tower, his bloodied fingers clutching the possible cure for the Harran Virus, something he and his friends (Jade, Rahim… Karim…) risked their lives for till the very end. Turning the box over, he eyes it with bitter victory before lifting his gaze up to watch as the sun begins to set and for the first time throughout his stay in the Slums, Kyle felt at peace to see the darkening sky. It’s been a long while since he sat around and watched the stars.

He summarizes the events that happened before Night fell. The psychopath, Rais, was dead, having fallen down his own building after Kyle stabbed him through the throat, throwing him off. The GRE were gone, left him behind at his own request, after chewing them out of course. With a grunt, he grabs his phone, standing up only to freeze as realization dawns on him. The silence that had been surrounding the tower suddenly falters as the screeching cries of Volatiles fill the void. 

Kyle curses under his breath, glancing around the top of the tower with mild panic. He wasn’t afraid of Volatiles, not after watching them throw themselves over an edge during a chase. They were predators, yes, but they weren’t apex just yet. Yet… His labored breathing betrays his false confidence. A Volatile is fine, can be taken down with maybe four shotgun blasts… a Hive on the other hand… fuck. Fuck. Okay, what would Jade do? Sneak her way by, find a safe zone. What would Rahim do? Probably run head first and try and take out as many as possible knowing the damn kid. And Karrim? What would Karim do? Kyle mulls it over before deciding that knowing Karim, he would make his own damn safe zone.

None of those three options sounds like a good idea. He’s hurt, making sneaking a laboring process and knowing the damn zombies, they’ll track him by the noise he makes. Night Walkers are something he doesn’t want to deal with thank you very much. Running head first into the Hive is also a completely fucking terrible idea, he is all out of ammo, having used it on his way up Rais’s tower. But what he does have are Zaid’s glowsticks. They last longer than the normal ones… he could try and camp out on top of the tower until dawn… he hesitates on that option. It’s not a bad idea, it’s just that he isn’t sure if he will have enough for 8, let alone 9 hours. “You don’t have a choice, Kyle. It’s this or dying,” he mutters under his breath, building a makeshift safe zone. All he has to do is not be seen, not get caught, and to not make noise.

Easier said than done of course. For some reason, while staying in one location, the night seems to grow longer than when he’s moving about from place to place. He curls into himself, breath coming out as a soft cloud. That’s right, it’s been a few weeks since the Olympics, meaning that summer would be ending soon… what would the tower do? As far as he could tell, the airdrops are still not arriving, meaning supplies are going to grow limited and not just that but winter is cold, it’s freezing, how are the kids going to get warm? How-?

His train of thought skids to a stop as soon as he recognizes the heavy breathing slowly coming closer. He lifts his watch up, swallowing back another curse as 1:45 a.m. shows brightly on the screen. 4 hours left and there is a Volatile patrolling outside of his make shift safe spot. Its footsteps grow closer, the odd noises it makes growing louder. It doesn’t know Kyle is there. Good.

It pauses outside of his wall of bricks, making a curious sound. Can it even be curious? It’s dead for god’s sake- no. That’s wrong. What did Dr. Zere tell him? Was it Dr. Zere or was it Dr. Camden? Fuck he doesn’t remember the thing is outside and it knows Kyle is there, hiding like some coward, it knows, and he is going to die and everything he did was for nothing why didn’t he stay home why did he take the job- it moves away. The monster moves away from his makeshift wall of bricks and walks away, its heavy breathing growing fainter and fainter before disappearing all together.

Kyle slumps against the wall behind him, body shaking as the events finally take its toll on him. At any point today, he could have died. At any point these past few weeks he could have died, and no one back home would have known. Do they even know where he is? Do they know he misses them? He wants to go home… “I want to go home,” the words are choked out, his body failing him in staying upright, instead crashing down on to the floor. Look at him, 32 years old and fucking crying for home, Rahim would have made fun of him to hell and back by now. 

He never signed up to stop the GRE from destroying Harran, he never signed up to be hunted like some animal by things that used to be human, he never signed up to see the things he has seen dammit! “Why did I stay?” he asks himself, “Rais is dead why did I stay?” he hisses, his voice growing in volume. He reaches up, digging his nails into his scalp, refusing to let any tears from falling. His labored breathing evens out as he remembers them.

The Aldemir’s. He stayed because of the Aldemir siblings. For Dr. Zere. For everyone who died during his watch. He promised to protect them. He promised Jane. He promised Rahim. They’re gone because of him. “Get your head in the game, Kyle,” he mutters, staring up at the ‘ceiling’ of his shelter. “What would Troy do?” he pauses and closes his eyes, grunting, “sing, probably.”

His keeps his eyes shut, evening his breath out, trying to ignore the cold, the rain that thunders outside of his little shelter. It’s when his watch beeps, alerting him that dawn has come, that he jolts up, shocked that 4 hours came and went so fast. A hand runs over his buzzcut, idly noting that he needs to cut his hair. “First thing first, get these tissue samples to Dr. Camden,” he tells himself, “afterwards, return to the tower, help out the civis… dispatch nearby Biters…” he frowns, “why do I feel like it isn’t going to be as easy as I’m making it sound?” Watching the wall collapse, he steps over the debris, looking for the safest way to climb down and head back to Brecken’s tower. No way in hell does he want to go through the Biter/Viral infested rooms again. 

The moment he touches the ground, he begins to jog back to the tower, his heart pounding as he thinks about what Dr. Camden, what the other Runners, will say at the news that Rais and his gang are dead, not gone, but mostly dead. “Fuck, I keep forgetting,” he vaults over a Biter, using the momentum to grapple his way to a nearby building, glancing at the hoard of zombies before hopping over buildings, using the paths created by Runners before him. “They are not dead, they’re sick,” he mutters to himself, but even he knows it falls to deaf ears. Sure, killing people is bad, but by the time they become Volatiles, are they truly people?

By the end of his run, he is back to the tower, feeling so good. He jumps to their safe zone only to pause when the others turn to look at him, grave faced. “What? What happened?” he asks, growing cold. No. No no no. He couldn’t lose someone else, fuck it he promised them!

“Lena wants to see you,” Spider comments, the kid who he saved during his time in Old Town. “They found a man in the outskirts of the Slums… he’s rambling, and Lena needs you now, Crane.”

Crane. Right. Only Jane and Lena ever called him Kyle. He rubs his beard, sighing, “alright, kid. Can you keep this safe? It’s the tissue samples from Dr. Zere. I’m taking them to Dr. Camden after I tell Lena and Brecken I’m back.”

Spider eyes the silver box, nodding absently, “yeah, sure, Crane. Lena is in her office, by the way. She told me to tell you that the dude is absolute bonkers, raving mad. He was going on and on about magic and zombies who follow orders?” Spider seemed to be able to tell that Kyle was not all there with him. At least, that’s what Kyle thought.

“Thanks kid,” kid. Rahim was a kid. Spider is younger than Rahim. The GRE wanted to kill children, fuck fuck fuck- “I’ll be going now,” he mutters, heading to the elevator. The fact they still have electricity is outstanding, especially when the wiring system frankly doesn’t make sense. “It’s a glitch in the matrix,” he snorts.

Arriving to his floor, he steps out and nods to the men loitering around, heading over to where Lena set her med bay up. “Lena?” he calls out. Entering her domain, he waves at her would-be apprentice before heading over to the sick bay.

“Here, Kyle,” Lena looks up, smiling faintly at him before focusing back on her shaking patient. “I’m guessing Spider clued you in?”

“You said he talked about magic, and what, domesticated zombies?” he scoffs, lips twitching into an amused grin only for it to fade away when he notes the serious look on Lena’s face, “you can’t be serious, Lena-”

She hesitates before looking up at Kyle, her tone even, “he talked about a group of people who don’t turn, even when they are bitten.” She holds her patient down, the man still rambling like a nutcase.

“Delirious people will say anything,” he mentions, not wanting Lena to get her hopes up. He blinks when she gives him a look and turns to take out a map from her pocket.

“He was holding this map when we brought him in,” she hands it over to Kyle, her eyes betraying her neutral expression. There is already hope in them.

Staying silent, Kyle opens the map, his eyebrows raising as a soft “whoa” comes out of his mouth. “This… This looks like-”

“A way out of Harran,” she finishes his sentence, lips twitching as if stopping herself from saying something. “Kyle… we are running out of Antizin. We have done everything possible. We can’t sit here and wait any longer. People are dying, children are dying-” that causes Kyle to flinch, “we have to check this out.”

“NO!” the man jolts up, grabbing on to Kyle, staring into his eyes with his tearful own, “stay-stay away! Stay away! You don’t understand! The Mother- The Mother!” Lena quickly shifts so she can press her patient back down, glancing over to Kyle, eyes still hopeful.

Kyle eyes the map, hesitating before nodding. “Alright. I’ll go check it out, I just need to go deliver Dr. Camden the tissue samples first-” Lena shakes her head, causing him to cut himself off.

“There is no time, Kyle! Go check it out now, I’ll find someone to deliver the package for you.” She hooks the man up to a bag, watching as his breathing evens out.

“What, no, Dr. Zere asked me to deliver them-” he gets cut off again. If it was anyone else, he would have snapped. But this was Lena. Lena, Brecken’s lover. Brecken, the makeshift older brother of the Aldemir siblings.

“Doctor Zere is gone, Kyle. Please. Please go check this out, we need you to find this cure.” Lena stands up once her patient passes out thanks to the pain killers in his system, “please Crane.” Her voice is soft, and honestly Kyle could never deny someone who was pleading at him. He always did get attached to his clients. But the way she said it…

Crane. He’s a soldier. He takes orders- “Alright, Lena,” his shoulders slump, “alright. I’ll go. Just… just don’t do anything rash while I’m gone and for god’s sake tell Brecken that Rais is dead. We need his supplies, they are probably all still in his building.”

Lena smiles, “I will, Kyle. Now go, our fates rest in your hands. I believe you can save us.” She closes the door behind him, causing him to frown.

“Lena, I am not the god damn Avatar,” Kyle grumbles, heading to his room. He’ll get his supplies first and then head out. As he steps into his room, he takes note of all the things he has gathered throughout his stay in the Slums and Old Town. “Maybe this is good,” he sighs, opening the map, staring at it, “it’s about damn time I see Harran’s Countryside.”


	2. It's a new dawn, It's a new day, It's a new life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyle has finally entered the Countryside and met some curious fellows. He can't help but think about the tower and his intrusive thoughts aren't getting any better. He has to say strong, he is doing this for them, for his family.
> 
> "It's a new dawn  
> It's a new day  
> It's a new life  
> For me  
> And I'm feeling good  
> I'm feeling good" -Michael Bublé

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is inspired by the song "I'm Feeling Good" by Michael Bublé. It's a good song, I recommend listening to it. So far, there has been no canon divergence from the DLC but don't worry, I will get to that.

Frankly, finding the passage way leading to the countryside was a huge hassle. Duck here, avoid Viral’s there, random Goon surrounded by a hoard of Biters in the corner and a floating Toad? Ugh. As much as Kyle respected Dr. Zere’s research and good work, mutating the zombies, ‘infected, they are infected people not zombies-’ damn intrusive thoughts, was a terrible idea. The only good that came out of it were Bolters and even then, those creepers ate rotting corpses aaaand alerted nearby Night Walkers and Volatiles if they were attacked. When he signed that contract for the GRE he accepted on finding the bad guy, getting the stolen files, and getting out. He never signed up to become emotionally invested on siblings who died for the greater good or random civilians! Just last week he had to walk some guy around who thought he was a werewolf in search of bloody fucking ingredients! 

Safe to say, when Kyle finally found the tunnel leading out of Harran, well. He might have done a little victory dance, not that anyone would ever know, after all rotting corpses don’t talk. Entering the tunnel, he surveys the area, quickly noticing how bare it is of life… or unlife. “Did I seriously just think that?” he asks himself, baffled amusement filling him. He jogs to the opened tunnel before him, running through it and jumping down. Fuck stairs, man. They get you killed. Shaking off the strain on his knees, Kyle continues to jog down the tunnel only to come face with a ripped opening. His eyes widen at the sight before him. 

Gathering his bearings, he dives down, careful to not touch any of the pointy rocks. Swimming towards the edge in front of him, he lets out an excited sound. He can’t help but run to the next edge, lifting himself up with a grunt, eyeing the sharp rocks everywhere. ‘One misstep and I am a kylecabob.’ Walking forward, he notices quickly some sort of engravings on the wall on the other side of a pit. Eyeing the edge, he jumps over, surveying the markings. Suddenly, sunlight flickers at the end of a pathway, his eyes widening as he jogs over, that excited sound from earlier sounding small compared to the noise he makes at the scenery before him.

The only way to truly describe it is… beautiful. From where he stands, he can see far into the countryside. To his front is a waterfall, roaring, filling the silence. He grabs his radio, taking in the scene before him. “Lena, do you copy?”

The radios static can mean nothing good. “Crane? … Dammit… you’re breaking up.” She sounds worried, which immediately dampens Kyle’s mood. How could he forget about them? 

Not wanting to keep her waiting, he quickly cuts to the chase, “listen, your one-eyed delirious patient, he was telling the truth! There is a way out.” He can see it now, helping Lena, Brecken, the children, every other survivor he has met in the Slums and bringing them through the tunnel, being free from Harran and the Hoard. “Maybe… Maybe what he said about the people who don’t turn is also true?” he doesn’t want to bring his hopes up. Ever since he got bit he knew he wouldn’t survive this mission but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a shot. Given the chance, if he had to choose himself or them, he would pick them.

Lena stays silent for a bit before gently settling the news on to him. “He died this morning, Kyle. The fever got him. You’re on your own, I’m afraid…” it almost sounded like she didn’t want him traversing through the countryside on his own. Cute.

“Lena?” he asks, his amusement fading into concern when the radio static overwhelms her voice, “Lena!” He curses before heading forward, focusing on not falling to his death. Before he knows it, he is at the edge of a cliff, facing the lake beneath the waterfall. “Oh, that’s high…” he eyes the crystal-clear water, clenching his jaw. For them. He is doing this for them. Taking a deep breath, he jumps. It’s a long fall and Kyle Crane does not shut his eyes until the very end. Breaking through the surface of the water, he gasps, quickly noticing the rotting bodies of two Biters floating nearby. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, he swims towards the edge.

Jumping over ledges has become an instinctive drive by now, something he does without even thinking anymore. Man, Rahim and Brecken sure did a number on him. Sure, he was fit before coming here but thanks to those two adrenaline junkies, Kyle Crane is a new man. 

Not even a couple of minutes into the countryside and Kyle already spies some Infected roaming by the stream. Well. There goes his dream of this being anti zombieland. Walking past a hunting tower, he spies some sort of farm on the other side of a field filled with zombies and haybales. He dodges the infected left and right, vaulting over the fence leading inside. 

Outside of a house is a man stroking a machete. The moment Kyle jumps over their fence, he leaps up to his feet and asks Kyle what he wants. “I’m just looking for someone in charge. I’m from Harran.” He puts his weapon away, lifting his hands up to show he means no harm. The man eyes him with distaste. His mustache reminds Kyle of Mario, not that Kyle ever really played Nintendo. Though, now that he thinks about it, after the man’s comment on him being a crook and a smuggler, he might be a Luigi. Asshole. Not that Kyle has anything against Luigi, it’s just that he is often a background character and forgotten- he needs to focus. Focus, Kyle.

“I’m just looking for help, pal,” Kyle keeps his voice calm, his fingers twitching as the man proceeds to threaten him. It’s cool. He understands. He would be cautious with some stranger as well if he were him. 

“Speak to Jasir,” the man says, “he is the one in charge around here.” Sitting back down, the man lets Kyle go but not without another warning. “I’ll be watching you, Stranger.”

 

* * *

Meeting Jasir was like meeting a grumpy old man. Maybe that is because Jasir IS a grumpy old man. Out of everyone in the damn farm, only some trader named Kaan is helpful. In a way, he kind of reminds Kyle of Karim, with the way he talks, confident with a hint of arrogance. Kyle swears that if Karim was there with him, (Fuck, Karim-), he would joke about Kaan being his brother from another mother. Kaan ends up sending him on some sort of ‘get a car’ quest. Meaning he literally has to go to some bandit camp and steal a car. Getting there, he realizes that as much as he would like to not go in and kill the remaining people in Harran, he has to do this in order for the farm to trust him. Safe to say, they do not come out… uh… alive. Morbid, Kyle, that is morbid. Jesus.

Either way, coming back to the farm and meeting Ezgi, the daughter of Jasir and man is she nothing like her father (note the sarcasm). Same temperament, except Jasir is watered down with age. She was not something Kyle had planned for or felt level headed enough to deal with. Children, he can handle. Rebellious teenagers on the other hand, they leave him a bit… in the dust. Maybe because growing up, Kyle was never the rebellious type. What… Why did he end up becoming a Mercenary for? (Stop thinking about it, Kyle.) He snaps back into reality when she compares him to Kaan, stating that she only wants to use them for his own gain. That causes guilt to pool into his stomach, because he knows it is true but at the same time, “I want to help,” he states, squaring his shoulders, “tell me how I can help.” He is pretty sure he lost the moment he sees her satisfied look.

There are bandits (of course, when are they NOT bandits?) hoarding the water, forcing people to pay them so they can drink clean water. Fuckers. He watches as the last bandit goes down, the warmth of his blood on Kyle’s face. Messy. Always so damn messy. (Why can he never do things right? No. stop.) Inside the water station is a man dressed in Rais’s gear proclaiming that he has no idea what is going on, not that Kyle would ever believe him. He dispatches him with a blast of his shotgun to the chest. Looting the corpse, he helps the man inside redirect the water only to be told that he has to go and turn some damn valve in the middle of fucking nowhere or else the building is going to explode (why can’t things ever be easy?)

Using his buggy, he races against the water in the pipeline, watching as it bursts out. He clenches his teeth, pressing down harder on the peddle, the zombie bubblehead bouncing around. He almost flips over as he swerves, avoiding a wall of dirt that seemingly spawned from nowhere. With a racing heart, he locates the building, the man screaming from his radio not helping as he goes inside, quickly noticing the floating Biter body. Wading through the water, he locates the valve, turning it. Just like that, the danger is over. After thoroughly looting the place, Kyle can’t help but feel accomplished… until he sees the darkening sky. “Fuck, where is the nearest safe zone?” he mutters, picking up the map, using his flashlight to eye the roads before deciding to head back to the farm.

Arriving, he didn’t expect the warm welcoming from the farmers, or Jasir’s. The grumpy old man simply thanks him and proceeds to ask why he helped. “It was the right thing to do,” and that’s the truth. Yes, he is using them for his own means, but they are still people who need his help and dammit Kyle is known to get attached to his clients.

As the sun begins to set and the Volatiles fill the silence, (silent. Was Harran always so silent? Or is it because of the Infected that people have decided that the silence is the best?) Kyle lays in his sleeping bag, thinking about his families. The one back in Chicago and the one back at the Tower. At least he knows his family in Chicago is safe, but every day they lose another floor to the virus back at the Tower… ‘I hope they are okay without me there. Don’t worry, Lena. I’ll be back soon with a cure. I promise.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still figuring my writing out, man is English difficult. You never stop learning the language!

**Author's Note:**

> Haha don't get mad there's a chapter to come lmao


End file.
